Keller realizes dream

The elite women's race gets off to a hectic start. Several riders crash, including Puck Pieterse and Savilia Blunk. World champion Jenny Rissveds stays out of the chaos right from the start. The Swede pulled away slightly, but was soon joined by Blunk (USA), who temporarily took the lead, and later by Alessandra Keller, who caught up on the third lap.

Blunk dropped back on the fourth lap and formed the chasing group with Laura Stigger (AUT), Evie Richards (GBR) and Samara Maxwell (NZL). Keller and Rissveds rode ahead together until the fifth lap, while Richards was able to halve the gap of around 30 seconds at times.

On the seventh of eight laps, Richards caught up with Rissveds after Keller had broken away and was leading alone. But on the final lap, the Brit had to drop out due to a defect and ended up in fourth place.

Keller managed her lead of around 15 seconds and became the first Swiss woman to win the World Cup race in Lenzerheide, ahead of Jenny Rissveds and Savilia Blunk. "It was very hectic at the start, Puck crashed and I almost rode over her. There were a lot of crashes, so I focused on my ride and my line. When I pulled away from Jenny, I was only in the tunnel until the finish and hardly noticed anything from the outside. Shortly before the finish, I looked around a few more times to make sure I had enough of a lead. Then I was super relieved and happy and let the fans carry me loudly to the finish. It's always been a dream to win here and now I can hardly believe it," said a delighted Alessandra Keller.

Rissveds was satisfied despite her second place: "I'm very, very tired after all the intensive preparations for the world championships. I had to dig very deep here and at the same time ride in an energy-saving manner to secure this podium place. I'm very proud of my ride."

With fifth place, Laura Stigger achieved a strong result, while Jolanda Neff's tenth place also shows that she is still a force to be reckoned with. Ronja Blöchlinger finished directly behind her in eleventh and twelfth place. Linda Indergand finishes 19th in her last Swiss appearance and raves about the atmosphere: "It was incredible, a great atmosphere that made me feel like I was in first place. I heard my name everywhere, it was wonderful!"

Results

Hatherly like at the World Championships - Schurter with a nice farewell

At the start of the men's race, French riders Luca Martin, Adrien Boichis and Victor Koretzky set the pace at the front. But it was Koretzky, one of the favorites, whose dreams of victory were shattered. The Frenchman suffers massive wheel damage on lap four, loses a lot of time and even two laps in the end.

On the same lap, world champion Alan Hatherly manages to catch up with the front runners. However, the South African did not stay there for long and pulled away from his rivals in a similar manner to the World Championships a week ago. Behind them, a four-man chasing group formed with Charlie Aldridge, Boichis, Simon Andreassen and Simone Avondetto.

Hatherly went into the final lap with a lead of 1:10 minutes. When his chain fell off and couldn't be put back on immediately, the gap shrank by more than 30 seconds, but he rode to victory in Lenzerheide with a 32-second lead. "I've never had the chain fall off before. But things like that can happen in a race. Fortunately, my lead was big enough so that my lead wasn't in danger," says Alan Hatherly and adds: "Winning here is special for me. I was U23 World Champion here in 2018, so I really wanted to win again in Lenzerheide."

Adrien Boichis is delighted with third place: "It was a great weekend for me, with second place in the short track and now third place in the cross country. It was also a great race with Alan Hatherly, who I tried to follow. And then there was the farewell to Nino Schurter. He's been one of my biggest idols since I was a kid, I've followed almost every one of his races, especially his victory here at the 2018 World Championships. So it was all the better that the atmosphere was so great again."

The best Swiss rider, Vital Albin, was celebrated in eighth place. For a long time, it looked as if he, Luca Schätti and Fabio Püntener could still make it into the top five, but it was no longer enough. Nevertheless, the three Swiss athletes put in a strong performance, finishing eighth to tenth. Albin enjoys the atmosphere: "It was great with all the spectators here. The great atmosphere definitely helped me to suffer better. It was a mega nice race. For a while I thought the top 5 was still possible, but I'm very happy with eighth place in front of my home crowd."

The best German is Luca Schwarzbauer in 15th place, his compatriot Julian Schelb is 22nd, two positions ahead of Nino Schurter, who is celebrated more by the crowd than the winner. The reason for this is his outstanding career, which ends with the World Cup in Lenzerheide.

"It's wonderful to be able to experience this atmosphere once again. It's the perfect place for me to end my World Cup career," says a delighted Nino Schurter, but also admits his doubts before the race: "I haven't felt well since the World Championships, I haven't slept well for the last three nights, there were so many emotions. Riding races and ending my career at the same time, I really underestimated this situation. This morning I was even scared of losing too much time and not even making it to the finish because of the 80 percent rule. But then I started the race well, lost some time in between, but then got back into the flow and was even able to really enjoy it - better than if I had ridden at the front again!"

Results

First victory for Lopez de San Roman

The American Vida Lopez de San Roman celebrated her first World Cup victory in the U23 cross-country in Lenzerheide. The 19-year-old, who had previously finished second in Les Gets and at the World Championships, decided the race with an attack on the final lap.

Together with series leader Valentina Corvi (Canyon CLLCTV XCO), she had broken away from the field early on. On the final lap, Lopez de San Roman accelerated on the climb and pulled away from Corvi by 24 seconds.

In the battle for third place, Sara Cortinovis (Ghost Factory Racing) prevailed against Marta Cano Espinosa (Trek Future Racing) and Ella Maclean-Howell (Cube Factory Racing).

Lopez de San Roman explained: "It really came down to the last lap. We were completely equal until then. I attacked on the switchbacks, gained a few seconds and then just went for it."

Corvi leads the overall standings with 123 points to go and can secure the title at the next World Cup in Lake Placid.

Results

Treudler dominates home race in Lenzerheide

Swiss Finn Treudler (Cube Factory Racing) celebrated a double victory in Lenzerheide. After his success in the short race on Friday, the newly crowned U23 world champion also came out on top in the cross-country race.

The 22-year-old attacked early and quickly rode to a clear lead. Rens Teunissen Van Manen (KMC Ridley MTB Racing Team), winner of Val di Sole, reduced the gap in the meantime, but had to settle for second place, 34 seconds behind.

The Danes Heby Gustav Pedersen (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) and Mikkel Lose battled it out for third place. Pedersen came out on top with a six-second lead.

Treudler extended his lead in the overall World Cup to 422 points and is therefore already the overall winner. "It was a special moment to start in front of this crowd, the atmosphere was incredible," he said. "I had to push really hard today and I'm very happy with my performance. After these intense weeks, I'm now looking forward to some rest."

Results